Been There. Done That. Going Back. Day 2 - Epcot

Tuesday September 3... Epcot

I know I said in my Animal Kingdom post that Tuesday was Hollywood Studios, but Thursday is DHS. Tuesday was Epcot. 

I woke up to get a Virtual Queue reservation for Guardians. Laid back down for an hour or so, then got up for the day. My father and I had our breakfast, then headed over to Epcot. We are never in a rush, plus we has Lightning Lane for the day. So, no need.

We arrived around 11:30, and went right to Spaceship Earth for our first LL. Our boarding group was called for Guardians, but we ignored it. I learned, from the past, they would have let us on if we were even a little late. Before riding Spaceship Earth (which looked good by the way), I booked Nemo for a LL. I really hope we hear about a Spaceship Earth make over. I believe the Chapek error make over is scraped, but I could be wrong. 

After Spaceship Earth, we walked over to Nemo and Friends, using our Lightning Lane. LL wasn't really needed because the wait time was minimal. But I paid for the service, I'm using it! Nemo is what it is, an A ticket dark ride, very short. And I don't know if it is something I am going to feel the need to do anymore, maybe if I need to waste time. 

Next up, The Land and another Lightning Lane for Living with the Land. Pretty much walked right on. Standby was minimal as well. I took note of Soarin's wait time of 50 minutes, and decided not to use Standby, so I checked on LL. Lightning Lane times were later in the day, if not sold out. We decided to skip Soaring, and left The Land pavilion. 

I took a moment to sit outside the pavilion and check Lightning Lanes. Only other LL I would have used was Frozen, and they were all sold out too. I had a LL coming up for Remy, so it was time to start heading over. But first, Imagination.

Walked right on. No wait. So no need for a LL. I was going to book one just because, but didn't. Wouldn't have mattered one way or another. No one was online waiting to ride. As for Imagination, yea, WDI, please DO SOMETHING. The ride hasn't aged well. Keep Figment, bring back Dreamfinder. But I am sure I am dreaming. We know if they update it, Inside Out will probably take over, even though there is an empty pavilion just crying out to become Inside Out. 

My dad and I took a walk over to Creations Shop because he wanted to get a baseball cap. He bought two actually. On our way over, Paging Mr. Morrow walked in front of me. Said a casual hello and went about my business. 

As our LL time for Remy was approaching, we took a boat across the lagoon to Morocco, and walked over to Remy. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure had an 80 minute wait time, probably the busiest ride in the park all day. But, LL helped us get right on. And right off, not even a 5 minute wait. We also took in the Beauty and the Beast sign along. But we only really did that to get out of the sun and into AC for a few minutes.

So, I haven't mentioned Guardians. That is because I received a message saying my time expired. I didn't even try to see if they would allow me on. Instead, at 1:00, I booked another virtual queue, which surprised me because I thought you were allowed one a day. But, maybe since my original one expired without use, they allowed another booking? Only thing I could think of. This time, I received a callback for around 7:00PM. That time would be perfect due to our dining time.

We decided to head back to the former Future World without walking World Showcase. Frozen was too long of a wait, so we decided we were skipping that. We road the boat back, from there, walked to Mexico. We took a ride on Three Caballeros, and then RAIN.

We hung out at the entrance of the Mexico Pavilion as it rained. And rained. and rained. The Deluge had finally come to Epcot! We waited it out for about 20 minutes or so, when the sky started to brighten and the rain started to slow down. We made way to the Odyssey, our goal to sit inside and stay dry. Dining was at 5, and we were now around 4:30, so relaxing and staying cool was not a bad option.

About five minutes to 5:00, we left Odyssey to make our way to Space 220 for dinner. This is the first time I dined there. And over all, I enjoyed it. Check in was easy. I loved the elevator ride up 220 miles into space. The restaurant is themed OK. Glad the screen windows were working because if not, would have through the whole thing off. 

Space 220 is a prix fixed menu, costing $80 a person/adult. You get an appetizer, entre, and dessert. I ordered the Bluemoon Cauliflower (Tempura Fried Cauliflower, Housemade Hot Sauce, Blue Cheese Dust) which was fantastic. My father asked for a plain salad. The lettuce he received was all white stems, no greens, or very little greens. He picked on the lettuce he could, and just sent back the rest. For our entre, I ordered the Slow Rotation Zero-G Short Rib (Braised Short Rib, Cheddar Grits, Bacon, Rainbow Carrots, Haricots Verts), and my father ordered the 8oz Filet Mignon (Certified Angus Beef, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Haricot Vert, Red Wine Reduction.), just with no red wine reduction. The food was excellent. The short rib was nice and tender, flavorful, and cook to perfection. My father said the filet mignon was fantastic as well. Very good, full of flavor. As for dessert, I had the Blue Planet (Chocolate Cheesecake, Cookie Crumbs, Vanilla Truffles, Raspberry) and my father had the Carrot Cake (Carrot Cake, Cream Cheese, Candied Walnuts, Toasted Pepitas). The desserts were just ok. Nothing special. The entre course was the best of the meal. Now, $80 is a lot per person, but you pay for the experience. I would do Space 220 again, but it wouldn't be a place I feel the need to go to every trip. But definitely not a one and done. 

We took the elevator ride back to Epcot, and we were about 30 minutes outside of our virtual queue time with Guardians. So, we sat on a bench and just relaxed, digesting our delish dinner. Around 7, we walked over to Guardians, and of course, we had one long wait, even with the virtual queue. I didn't mind, since we didn't wait for anything else, and I figured, even if we were on here for an hour, 8:00pm brings us closer to Luminous, and with a shorter wait. Well, once again guardians surpassed all expectations and was one again the best ride in Epcot, maybe in all of Disney (though, Rise of the Resistance is personally my favorite). And of course, after Guardians, RAIN..... 

We stayed back at the exit for a bit, and decided to just leave. We didn't wait for the rain to stop, so we got to the bus soaked. Yes, we were drowned Epcot-terrians. Oh, and the good bus luck continued, as we didn't wait long, there was a bus already waiting for Old Key West, with no one waiting to board. But, by time we left, the bus had more passengers, but not crowded. 

We arrived back at Old Key West. Went to our room and dried off. Hung up our went clothes. And relaxed the rest of the night, watching TV.

Over all, another wonderful day. Low crowds, got to ride the attractions we wanted. And had a fantastic dinner. 

Next up: Wednesday rest day, a poly breakfast, a soaking at the pool, and a bison burger mishap.